


Soul Searching

by Tesla_Rolex



Series: Happier Times and Happier Moments of the Past, Present, and Future [4]
Category: Persona 5
Genre: F/M, Fluff, References to Norse Religion & Lore, ShuMako Week 2019
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-18
Updated: 2020-01-18
Packaged: 2021-02-27 12:33:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,279
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22307221
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tesla_Rolex/pseuds/Tesla_Rolex
Summary: There is enchantment in the world.The Amamiya family has seen it first hand.Shumako Week 2019 Day 4: Free Day
Relationships: Amamiya Ren/Niijima Makoto, Kurusu Akira/Niijima Makoto, Niijima Makoto/Persona 5 Protagonist
Series: Happier Times and Happier Moments of the Past, Present, and Future [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1019190
Kudos: 14





	Soul Searching

“That’ll be ten dollars.”

“Oh jeez, uh…” Ren Amamiya fiddled around with his pocket and his wallet. He could’ve sworn he brought the currency he had converted. But the cashier stopped him.

“Don’t worry. We take yen.” She had a bright smile on her face.

Ren stood shocked for a second, and then he smiled too. “Oh...Thank you! Here’s 1100 yen and uh...I hope you have a good day ma’am.”

He started to walk off towards the exit, bags in hand, until the cashier called out to him. “Hey uh...If I may be blunt, what are you doing here?”

Ren raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

She had a look of concern. “Well...this town is in the middle of nowhere. There isn’t much to do here, not much to see either. Just a couple of cabins and beautiful sighs I guess. Not many tourists come here so...why come here? Of all the places in the world, why here?”

Ren smiled. “...Soul searching. I came here with my family to do some...soul searching. Have a nice day.”

He walked out the door and into the village. Around him, he saw cabins everywhere. They were small, yet cozy. Makoto and him were staying in a small cabin on the outskirts of the town, more towards the mountains. 

It was snowing. There was a waterfall in the distance and a lighthouse atop a hill. It felt like the type of town where some type of evil monster was lurking beneath the surface. 

But there wasn’t. There were just...people. 

Ren smiled. As he walked to a trolley operating in the town, he was able to reflect on why he had come here. 

For ten years, he constantly worried about other people. His friends, his family, everyone. So focused on his job, his career, and being a rock for the people he loved. And it took a toll on him. He had been so scared of letting everyone around him down that he spiralled into a bad state.

_ Again _ . He had a new lease on life and yet he was still not taking time to himself.

So Makoto suggested coming here. A village in the middle of nowhere. Futaba had shown them the location, and she was all over it. The both of them could afford to take a break, Ren from his lawyer duties, and Makoto from her investigations. The police commissioner could take over for them, no problem. 

And the two of them thought that well, they might as well bring their six year old twin children. 

The original intention was to stay here for a month or so. But it had been five months, and Ren had felt happier than he had in awhile. 

Peace. He was at peace. 

He took his seat by the window and looked outside as the trolley began to move. 

The town was called Gimle. And it seemed to walk the line between advanced and ancient. The architecture was old, and yet the technology surrounding it was new. Trollies, motorcycles, prosthetics, everything. It was once an old Norse battlefield, but after the world was exposed to personas...well, it seemed appropriate to mix the past with the present. And thus, Gimle was born. 

...Ryota had been diving into the history of the region. He was all over it. 

Maybe this was just the kind of thing he could expect from the future. 

God, the future. Hard to believe how far they’d come. 

Almost ten years ago, he had come to Shibuya to the first time, not expecting much. He hoped to serve his sentence in peace. But he left it a better person, educated in the virtuous side of humanity, and now accompanied by a new family. Bonded not by blood, but by something far deeper and far more powerful. 

Brotherhood. 

...And well, he also came out of it with the love of his life, Makoto Niijima. That’s a pretty big deal as well.

A lot has changed since then. He nearly died a couple of times, got married, had children, went to law school, created a law firm with some of his best friends, and now here they were. At peace. 

Ren Amamiya had learned a lot of lessons in his life. About brotherhood, family, truth, justice, control, the list was infinite. 

But there was one lesson he learned that stuck to him. One very special lesson that he learned with the help of his wife.

There-

Oh, the trolley stopped. 

Ren smiled, grabbed his groceries, and stepped off of the trolley, saying his goodbyes to the driver. 

From here, on this little cliff, it would be a bit of a walk to their temporary home. But this was actually his favorite routine of the day. 

He could feel the snow touch his cheek, he could hear the waterfall course around him. He could see the lighthouse above him shining its light, and if he looked to his right, he could see the giant sea connected to the town. 

There is enchantment in the world. That was the lesson he had learned. 

When he had seen humanity at its best and strongest, his friends fighting against the odds and  _ changing _ for the better. 

When he had faced death and returned to see people waiting for him. To see a world that was far more than just “shitty adults ruining people’s lives”. A world worth fighting for. 

Take his wife. Makoto Niijima had lost everything. Her mother, her father. And no one cared. Her sister dived into her work, treating Makoto like a parasite. The principal of the school manipulated, and a mafioso had now entered the picture and blackmailed her. The odds were against her, and it was no wonder that she became so cold. 

But she pulled herself out of the darkness. Out of the abyss of a dark mental state. And she came back, new and better than before. 

She became herself. And it was beautiful. 

Seeing Makoto wake up to her persona was the exact moment Ren fell in love with her. Partly because that bike was so badass, but mostly because she changed. She evolved. 

She became a Phantom Thief. 

There is enchantment in the world. And there is enchantment in the people. Ren saw first hand the ability of people to grow. He saw the best in people. 

And as he walked through the landscape of this new environment, his  _ home _ in sight, he knew. He just knew. 

There is enchantment in the world. Hope, love, peace, happiness. 

And to him, there was no greater enchantment than his family. 

“Daddy!” 

Speaking of which-

“Akira! Hey sweetie, where’s your mother?”

Akira Amamiya immediately ran into Ren’s chest and gave him a giant hug. Ren nearly lost his balance right there and then as he chuckled. She spoke into his jacket. “She’s cooking dinner!” 

Ren didn’t even realize the sun was setting, but a quick look at the skyline showed that, indeed, it was getting dark outside. 

He grinned. “Really? What’s she cooking?” 

Akira released her father from her hug and grinned right back. “Curry! Just like you make it!” Then she pouted. “I keep begging her to let me try coffee but she won’t let me.”

Ren smirked. “Hey, how about this, I’ll let you try coffee tomorrow if you promise to get an early night's sleep tonight!” He ruffled her hair. “You better not tell Makoto and your brother. It’ll be our little secret.”

Akira jumped up and down. “Really? Deal!” 

He chuckled as he walked through the door and she ran ahead of him, into the little living room they had set up. There were couches, a tv, a little kitchen in its own room, an upstairs area with two rooms for the siblings to sleep in, and a balcony that overlooked the town. 

They got a hell of a good deal. 

Akira went upstairs, no doubt to brother her brother, and so Ren figured...maybe he should bother his wife. 

He could hear the cooking, so he figured he should place his groceries down by the entrance to the kitchen, and saw his wife. His beautiful wife with slightly long hair in a ponytail. 

Makoto Niijima fell in love with Ren, according to her, the very moment she saw him. His delinquent energy mixed with a natural kindness shocked her to her very core. 

Seeing his Joker personality and Arsene, and seeing his kindness when dealing with Eiko just cemented that further. 

Ren snuck up behind her as he was stirring a pot and gave her a giant hug, kissing her neck. “Hey honey.”

Makoto leaned into it with a big smile. “Hey  _ Joker _ . How was your supply run?”

“Good!” He held up the bag and unpacked it on the kitchen counter. “I got us some coffee beans, spices, onions, turmeric, garam masala, coriander powder, red chiles for food, and some presents for the kids.”

She grinned. “Like?”

“A new Fire Emblem game, new Street Fighter, new Killer Instinct, Death Stra-”

“These sound less like presents for the kids and more like presents for you love.”

Ren gasped. “Wow! I’m hurt! How dare you hurt me like this, in our own home!”

Makoto giggled. “At least the kids weren’t here to watch you get roasted.”

“ **OHHHHHHHHHH DAD JUST GOT BURNED! DID YOU SEE THAT RYOTA?!** ”

“Hang on, imma get the aloe vera.”

Ren and Makoto turned to see Akira and Ryota Amamiya with wide eyes and big grins, and they all just started laughing. Cackling even. And as Makoto started to panic that the curry would be overheated, and as Ren stepped into help, and as the kids immediately found the games and got to work playing them, Ren realized…

This was home. 

Enchantment. 

* * *

Dinner had been served, games had been played, adventures had been had, and now the kids were going to bed. There was a bunk bed and everything and it was  _ fantastic. _

The kids however were still very hyper. It took them a bit to actually get them into bed, and even when they were in bed, they were still…

Well. 

They were still being Phantom Thieves. 

“ _ This is Joker, I’ve infiltrated the theater. _ ”

Ryota giggled and shot back to her sister on the top bunk. “ _ Have you sent a calling card _ ?”

Ren groaned with a smile at the entrance to the door. “I told you! No more Phantom Thief stories for the night! Tomorrow morning, I promise I’ll tell you more.”

Akira pouted. “At least tell me what Mona is up to!”

Makoto stepped in. “I told you! He’s still an investigative journalism! He is still living his best life.” Then she smirked. “You know, if you guys don’t calm down, I won’t be able to show you our  _ little surprise _ ~”

That stopped them dead. The twins had literal stars in their eyes. Ren looked at Makoto with a giant smirk. “I can’t believe that worked!”

“Hey, I wasn’t the co-leader of the Phantom Thieves for nothing.” She then looked to the kids with a grin. “Now check this out.” 

From behind the door, she pulled out a truly magical, astounding object.

A  _ guitar _ . 

Akira and Ryota cheered. “ **MOM’S GOING TO SING FOR US!** ”

Ren raised his finger with a smirk. “Actually  _ we’re _ going to sing for you. It’s going to be a duet.”

“What do you mean? I’m going to be doing all the work.”

“Wha- Look, if I had my piano with me here.”

“Uh-huh.”

“And if this was a song that used the piano.”

“Uh-huh.”

“I’d be a champion.”

“Sure you would honey.”

Makoto gave him a kiss on the cheek and Ren rolled his eyes. “See kids, your Mom is an absolute menace. Even when we were Phantom Thieves she was a menace.”

The kids giggled as she tuned her instrument. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Were you not the woman who slapped sense into Eiko Takao, nearly beat up a guy, and then confessed your love to me all in the same hour?”

“That’s weird, that seems like something you did at the time.”

“That’s crazy, kids, who do you believe here?”

Both kids pointed at Makoto. 

She had a smug grin as Ren put his head in his hands. “I want a divorce.”

At that, the entire family started laughing. A sound that was pure magic in Ren’s eyes. 

Eventually, the laughter died down and Ryota looked to his mother curiously. “What song are you going to play?”

And she grinned. “Oh. You’ll see.”

She began to strum the instrument. Playing an opening peaceful part. 

It was hard to describe the feeling that arose from the song but one word came to mind in Ren’s head. 

Serene.

And it became even more serene when Makoto started  [ singing ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqSHtj7kfJU) . 

“ _ I guess I have to face _

_ That in this awful place _

_ I shouldn't show a trace of doubt. _ ”

_ But pulled against the grain _

_ I feel a little pain _

_ That I would rather do without” _

Ren joined in and they sang together. In harmony. 

“ _ I'd rather be... _

_ Free-ee-ee _

_ Free-ee-ee _

_ Free…” _

There was enchantment in the world. At that moment, even Makoto knew it. Everyone in that room knew it.

“ _ I'd rather be _

_ Free-ee-ee _

_ Free-ee-ee _

_ Free.. _ ”

As the kids began to relax, to ease up and calm down, Ren realized it.

He was home. He was at peace. He was happier than he had ever been in his life. 

_ He was  _ **_free_ ** .

“ _ Free-ee-ee _

_ Free-ee-ee _

_ Free... _

_ From here _ ”

He had found what he was looking for. Hope, love, peace, happiness. 

But he had found something far more valuable.

He had found his soul.

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Hello!   
> I know what you're thinking: Tesla Rolex making a fluff piece?   
> Shocking. Incomprehensible. Who are you and what have you done to the real Tesla?  
> Well, admittedly, I'm a bit surprised as well. The last time I made a one shot fic was in June of 2019, and as my first Shumako entry of 2020, you'd think it'd be something a bit more...usual?  
> But this seemed fitting. I had gotten the idea for this fic while just...thinking. This week has been stressful for midterms, and I'm pretty sure I just bombed my math midterm, so while I was dozing off after the exam, I started to wonder about stories to tell about Ren Amamiya. And I just pictured him in a far off land. He's not there for any specific mission or duty. He is there for himself. He is there to soul search. And I imagined that Makoto would of course be there by his side. From there, I created the world. I had been getting into Norse mythology lately(Gimle means New heaven in old Norse), I saw both Your Name and the Lighthouse, and Eldritch horror was calling to me. With all of these pieces you'd think this would be angsty and yet, my goal was to make something that was simply serene. Enchanting.   
> And so, add in the kids, some neat dialogue, Shumako week, a song from one of my favorite tv shows ever Steven Universe(check out my SU fic btw!), and you get this.  
> In terms of A&F, there are some subtle references in here, but it isn't anything clear. And in terms of the next chapter, I'm considering leaving the story alone until P5R comes out. That's a big old maybe, but we'll see.  
> Anyways, I hope everyone enjoyed, and you have no idea how much a comment would mean to me.   
> See you guys later!


End file.
